Modulable Aircraft Assembly Installation with Mobile Access Structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft assembly installations are inflexible and struggle to adapt to changing requirements and constraints during an assembly campaign, such as varying learning and technical mastery times, changes in production throughput, and delays in part supply, due to their fixed nature and heavy, bulky structures.
Innovation Solution
A modulable aircraft assembly installation with mobile access structures that can be reconfigured to change the distribution of access structures between assembly stations, allowing for different operational configurations to match evolving needs, including mobile fuselage section supports and access structures with wheels or air cushions for easy movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If access structures are made fixed and permanently installed in assembly stations, then structural stability and reliability are improved, but adaptability and ease of reconfiguration deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The access structures are designed to be mobile rather than fixed, allowing them to be moved between different assembly stations. This dynamic design enables the installation to adapt to changing production requirements while maintaining structural integrity during use, directly resolving the contradiction between stability and adaptability
2Adaptability or versatility
If access structures are made mobile to enable reconfiguration, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The access structures are designed as separate, modular units that can be independently moved and positioned at different assembly stations. This segmentation allows for simpler individual components rather than a complex integrated system, reducing manufacturing difficulty while maintaining reconfiguration capability
3Manufacturing precision
If a specific distribution of operations between assembly stations is established at the start of an assembly campaign, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but adaptability to changing production requirements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile access structures enable dynamic reconfiguration of the assembly line by allowing operations to be redistributed between stations based on changing production requirements, learning curves, and supply constraints, while maintaining precise assembly operations at each station
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient adaptation to changing requirements and constraints, improving throughput and overall performance by allowing for reconfiguration of assembly lines in response to learning phases, production changes, and supply delays, thereby optimizing the assembly process.
Implementation Method 1
mobile access structures... with wheels or air cushions for easy movement
Data Source
AI summary
To make an aircraft assembly installation modulable, the latter includes a floor, assembly stations distributed on the floor, and structures for accessing the aircraft during their assembly, each structure being mobile on the ground. The access structures include at least one access structure at an orbital junction between two fuselage sections, at least one access structure at the two junctions between a fuselage section and each of the two aircraft wings, and at least one access structure at the junctions between a rear fuselage section and tail units. In addition, the installation is designed to be able to adopt several distinct configurations, each having a different distribution of the access structures between the assembly stations.